Convertible chair and table.



C- F. VOLLMER.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR AND TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY ll, I915.

Patented Mar. 2?, 1917.

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c. F. VOLLMER. CONVERTIBLE CHAIR AND TABLE.

APPLICATIO I ED MAY IM 1915 1,220,300. Patented Mar. 27, 1917. 1

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CHARLES E. VOLLMEB, OF DEN-YER, COLORADO.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR AND TABLE.

To; all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, CHARLES F. VOL MER, a citizen of the United, States,residing at Denver, in the county of Denver; and State of Colorado,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in- Gonvertible Chairs and;Tables, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to convertiblechairs and tables, to permit useofthe device either as a chair, or table, at; theoption of the user. 7

An object'of theinvention is to equip a Morris chair. with suitablemeans to permit its being converted into a table. when desired, withoutmakingany material altera: tions in the chair, the; table being swunginto an operative or inoperative position, at the option of the user,without the use of, any parts other than the inherent chair structure.

Another object is to associate an improved book holder,with one of thearms of: the chair, to permit the holder being placed directly infront;of,the occupantof the chair for convenience in reading' v Afurther object of the inventionisto provide a leg rest, foryieldinglysupporting the legs, and flexible under movement of .the latter, toprevent cramping the. legs, frequently caused by the immovability of;afixed support.

Other objects as well as the nature, characteristic features and scopeof my invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings andpointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a chair constructed inaccordance with my invention, dotted lines being used to in-' Fig. 4 isa top plan view of the back of the chair, when the same is used in theca- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 27., 1917.

Application filed May, 11, 1915.. Serial No. 27,397.

pacity of a table, the hinged leaves being shown in open positionthereon,

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the arms of the chair,

Fig, 6 is a detail enlarged fragmentary view of the chair body showingthe book support in an operative position thereon,

+ig. 7 is a plan view of the chair back pivoting frame.

Inthe drawings a chair body is provided comprising the usual legs 1 withwhich the seat-supporting portion 2 is, associatechthe latter having abar 3 depending from its lower face and at the front of said.seatsupporting portion, the outer face ofwhich has a longitudinallyextending groove formedtherein. A seat 4 of the usual or any desiredconfiguration is mounted upon the seat-portion 2 in the usual manner.

- Arms 5 are associated with the upper terminals of the legs 1, each ofwhich has a portion of one of its lateralmargins removed,- as indicatedatdandshown to advantage in Fig. 5, while its end is reduced and provided in its upper face with transverse grooves 7 A back 8- 'is movablymounted between thearms 5 of the chair and is in pivotal connection withthe seat-supporting of the armsof the U are turned-at right.

angles, as at 11, as shown to advantage in Fig. 7, for pivotalengagement: with loopstraps 12 on the inner face of the back 8.- It willbe noted that the back Sis preferably of-an oblong configuration,asillustrated in Fig. 2, and extends appreciably below the lower face ofthe seat-supporting portion 2 and above the upper faces of the arms 5.

Leaves 13 are hingedly 'engagedwith the rear face of the hack 8, each ofsaid leaves having its outer marginal, edges coincident with themarginal edges of the back 8, while the proximate lateral margins ofsaid leaves 13 are spaced from each other, as shown in Fig. 3, and areheld from displacement by retaining means 14'. It will be observed thatthe inner face of the back 8 is providedwith an upholstered portion 15so as to provide a more comfortable rest. When the chair is used in thecapacity of a table, the upholstered portion 15 provides a support forthe back 8, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, since theupholstered portion is engaged with the upper faces of the arms 5. Thearms of the U-shaped yoke 9 engage with shoulders 16 which are providedby cutting away portions of the arms 5, indicated at 6, referred toabove, thereby preventing displacement of the back. The leaves 13 arepermitted to be operated outwardly, when desired, so as to provide arelatively large table. When the device is desired to be used a 'ain asa chair, pressure is merely exerted on the back 8, so as to throw thesame rearwardly, disengaging the arms of the U-s-haped yoke 9 from theshoulders 16. The back will assume its normal position when shovedsu'li'iciently rearwardly and may be held in any desired recumbent orstraight position by a rod 17 which extends transversely of the chairand is engaged in the recesses 7 on the upper faces of the arms 5 of thechair.

A foot rest 18 is associated with the bar 3 and comprises a base portion19, one of the lateral margins of which is engaged in the longitudinalgroove in the front face of the bar 3, while the opposite lateral marginis in hinged engagement with one of the lateral edges of a m vable bodymember 20, the latter being normally held in an inclined position by arod 21, one end of which is engaged with the inner face of the bodymember 20, while the opposite end extends through an opening 22 in thebase 19 of the foot supporting member, and has an enlarged head 23formed on its free terminal. Coil-springs 24: and 2% are engaged withthe rod 21, the former being interposed between the body member 20 andthe base 19, while the latter spring is interposed be tween said base 19and the head 23, thereby yieldingly supporting the body portion 20 inthe desired position. It will therefore be seen that the foot-supportingportion is arranged in close proximity to the seat a of the chair, so asto support the legs of the occupant of the chair, thereby preventing thelegs from being cramped which as is well known, is usually caused bybeing engaged with a perfectly rigidly supporting medium. Moreover, byinclining the body member 20, it is seen that a more normal recline ofthe legs is permitted, which is especially desirable when the occupantof the chair is in a recumbent position. The support is, of coursedetachable from the bar 3, so as to preclude poss1b1l1ty of itsinterference, when the device is used as a table.

A. book-supporting member is associated with one of the arms 5 of thechair and comprises a supporting beam 25, one end of which is hinged toone of the chair arms, permitting the beam to be swung into engagementwith the upper face of the chair arms 5, transversely of the chair, soas to dispose said beam directly in front of the occupant of the seat a.A book engaging member 26 is hingedly engaged with the beam 25 and isprovided with a right-angled abutment 27 on its lower end, to preventcasual displacement of the book. A supporting staff 28 is hinged on therear face of the supporting member 26 to retain the latter in aninclined position. From this construction, it will be observed that thebeam 25 may be swung to one side of the chair when not in use, as shownin Fig. 2, furthermore that the book-engaging member 26 may be foldedinto snug engagement with the beam 25, so as to occupy a minimum amountof space when not in use, thereby providing a compact structure.

It will be understood that the above de scription and accompanyingdrawings comprehend only the general and preferred embodiment of myinvention and that various minor changes in details of construction,proportion and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of theappended claims without sacrificing any of the advantages of myinvention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A convertible chair and table including a body having side arms, theback of said chair being operable into a position superposed above theside arms to provide a table, and a relatively thick member carried byone side of the chair back to provide a cushioned back, said memberadapted to engage the chair arms for holding the back spaced from thelatter when used as a table, and to prevent mutilation of the side arms.

2. A convertible chair and table including a body equipped with sidearms, a back movably carried by said body and movable into a position tobe supported by said arms to provide a table, and a wire strand inpivotal engagement with said body and back and engageable with said sidearms to limit the forward movement of the back, said strand comprisingan axis to facilitate movement of the back.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. VOLLMER.

Witnesses:

F. J. YOUNG, C. C. Fnneusom Copies of this patent may be obtained forfive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. 0.

